Chapter Text
Saying Sarada was confused was an understatement. She was awoken around noon not by the usual ringing sound of her alarm or even by her mother’s voice calling from downstairs, but by loud bickering from around the corner. Her aching back let her know that she was not in her bed or even in her room at all.
Groaning, she groggily got up from the bottom of the plastic slide that she had made a bed out of and stretched for the first time that day. She then straightened her white T-shirt and patted down her pair of dark blue shorts. Her maroon zip-up hoodie provides her protection from the harsh, late noon sunlight that was filtering through the leaves of the tree she was under. Looking around, she quickly recognized the familiar layout of the small park just a few houses from her home. Sarada sighed and ran her hand through her dark, messy hair that ended just below her chin, memories of last night rushing back to her.
Fighting with her mother wasn’t a rare occurrence, especially with her mother’s hot-headed personality. However, this one was unusually heated. She knew why. Her mother had been quite stressed from her job at the hospital, after all, but Sarada was feeling especially left out being alone on Father’s Day.
There was a time when she wished her father had never been sent on that heroic, top-secret mission. Or that her workaholic mother hadn’t taken that promotion at the hospital. Or, on especially dark days, she had wished that they never had her at all if she was going to be the one to bear the consequence of her parent's decisions—decisions that, although they greatly affected her, she didn't get a say in the making of them.
She had wished and thought about it but never said it out loud until last night, yelling at the top of her lungs at her mother, whose sunken eyes widened in shock and guilt. Sarada regretted the moment those words left her mouth, but like her mother, she can be quite stubborn.
"Go to your room, Sarada," her mother had said tiredly. Her bright green eyes didn't meet her daughter's contrasting dark ones. They are just too different, despite being family. "We’ll talk about it tomorrow when you have calmed down."
Frustrated, Sarada ran up the stairs to her room and slammed the door. She grabbed a pillow and screamed into it, then abused it with her punches until the anger left her body and the sadness set in. Sarada wiped away the tears that welled up in her eyes furiously, exasperated by her own emotions. When most of her pillow stuffing was on the floor and all that could be heard in the room were quiet sniffles, Sarada dropped down onto the bed that suddenly felt too big for her, and tried to sleep.
Ten minutes turned into twenty, thirty, and then an hour had passed, but she still could not escape this dreadful day that seemed to stretch on forever. Her room felt too hot, too spacious, and yet suffocating. She knew it hadn’t physically changed, but she felt like she was lying in a stranger's room she’d never been in before.
With the remaining adrenaline still pumping through her from the fight with her mom, she sprang up from her bed, put on a pair of sandals, and grabbed the hoodie draping over her chair. In one fluid movement, she leaped out into the cool night air through her window and landed noiselessly on her neighbor’s roof. She didn’t know where she wanted to go, so she just took off running until her mind wasn’t racing with thoughts about her family anymore. She made several rounds within her neighborhood aimlessly but eventually ended up at the park she used to play at, out of breath.
The playground was built for kids, so everything was quite small for her, but she climbed the plastic slide anyway and slid down. The underwhelming ride lasted less than a second before she skidded to a stop at the bottom of the slide. Lying down, she looked up at the stars and the bright, full moon. Sarada zipped up her hoodie and tucked both her hands into its pocket. Although she was not yet ready to come home, the cool wind was already getting to her. A rare shooting star cut through the dark sky, and, despite believing it to be a childish thing, Sarada made a wish. Initially, she had intended to stay until her head was clear, but little did she know that she would accidentally spend the rest of the night right there at the park.
Not the best idea, Sarada thought. Now her throat was as dry as a desert, and she was still in her pajamas. So with heavy feet, Sarada put on her hoodie to shield her from anyone she might run into on this walk of shame home. Unfortunately, she didn’t get far before encountering two very loud people, whose voices, she realized, had woken her up a moment ago.
"I said no, Naruto!" The high-pitched voice chastised. "The last two times we went, you made me pay for both of us!"
"And I already said I’m sorry!" The other voice, Naruto's, Sarada presumed, whined. "This time I really did bring my wallet, see?"
Sarada usually doesn't eavesdrop, but there was just something about those two voices that was so familiar that she couldn’t help but tune in.
"Then pay me back for the other dates, and I’ll consider going with you this time," the girl said, flipping her hair haughtily. Sarada couldn’t contain her surprise when she saw the color of those strands—a pale pink, just like her mother’s. Not only that, but she was wearing the exact outfit Sarada had seen in her mother’s Team Seven picture back home, down to the blue forehead protector on her head and the green pants on her legs.
Who is she?
The boy, Naruto, perked up. "Did you just call them ‘dates’?"
Irritated and embarrassed at her slip of words, the girl raised her fist at him. "Stay on topic, Naruto."
The boy opened his frog-shaped wallet and started to count. But there must not be a lot of coins in there, because he kept counting again, sweating more each time he started over, as if more money would somehow magically appear in his wallet. His nervous laugh was evidence that he did not have enough.
"Um..you know what? I just remembered I have something to do, so I'll... er..maybe another time, Sakura-chan," he said before taking of faster than Sarada could figure out what was going on.
Wait, what did he call her?
Sakura shook her head disapprovingly, her hands on her hips. "Honestly, I’m just his sugar mama at this point."
Then the girl turned, and Sarada suddenly found herself face-to-face with her mother-lookalike, not realizing that she had been slowly making her way toward the girl.
"Mom?" Sarada questioned under her breath, her voice still sounding hoarse from yesterday.
The unfamiliar title caused Sakura to raise her eyebrows quizzically.
"Do I know you?" she asked.
Sarada snapped out of her trance, only now realizing what she was doing.
"I-No, I don’t think-," Sarada stuttered out, inwardly berating herself for fumbling so much with her words. Meanwhile, Sakura was sizing up the mysterious stranger who had just approached her. Short, disheveled black hair. A jacket over shorts and a T-shirt, and a pair of blue sandals. A civilian boy?
"Sorry, I think I might have mistaken you for someone else. I’ll take my leave now." Sarada ended the conversation lamely, getting ready to just bolt out of this bizarre situation, when a hand grabbed her wrist.
"Wait a minute!"
Caught off guard, Sarada promptly shook her hand out of Sakura’s grip.
"W-what is it?"
“Do you... need help?"
Sarada stared at the knitted brows and the downward turn of the lips that were so like her mother’s worried expression. "What do you mean?"
"It’s just-you look kind of... rough."
Sarada was quiet for a few moments, contemplating what to reveal if she was truly not currently in her correct period of time. However, Sakura had taken the silence as an affirmative answer to her earlier question.
"I run away from home, too, sometimes. Or at least that’s what my mom called it when I stormed out of the house," she clarified. "But I never stayed out the whole night, though. My mother would kill me for real if I did that."
Sarada continued to study her mother-to-be. She could never imagine her responsible mother would ever be the kind of girl who did what she was doing right now. She always looked up to her mother as the type to face the obstacle head-on, sprinting at full speed, not someone who throws tantrums and runs away from her problem. But standing here with this pink-haired girl now, with her situation being read like an open book, Sarada realized she might just not know her mother as much as she had thought.
"Are you..lost?" Sakura took a guess. It was weird that this strange boy had called her 'mom' earlier, but perhaps he was calling out to someone else behind her.
"I guess you could say that."
"Oh." Sakura looked around like she would be able to recognize the strange boy's house. "Do you know your address at least?"
Sarada shook her head again. Stay vague, she reminded herself.
"But you mustn’t have gone far, right? We can walk around this area a bit and see if you find anything familiar."
It would be more ideal if the young version of her mother would leave her be so she could figure out a way back to when she’s supposed to be on her own, but maybe this option isn't too bad. It would be useful to buy her time while she figures out what is going on.
"That sounds like a good idea."
As the two stalked down the road to Sarada’s house, walking side by side, Sarada found that her mom was not very comfortable with the silence between them because she was quick to fill it again with questions. The moment Sarada realized the pink-haired girl's question might just cause her to accidentally reveal information she shouldn't, Sarada beat her to it.
"Why did you run away from home?"
Although slightly caught off guard by the forward question, Sakura didn't show it. Instead, she let out a low hum as she thought about her answer.
"My mother’s way of thinking is very rigid; if this is the way she thought things needed to be done, then that is the only way they should be done." Sakura sighed. "I know she meant well, but I just wish she would try to meet me halfway sometimes, you know?"
Sarada nodded, thinking back to how her mother would always try to avoid the topic when she asked about her dad. Sometimes she wondered if her mom was lying—lying about their love for each other and even theirs for her.
"What about you?" Sakura turned to Sarada and asked. "How did you end up here?"
Sarada looked down at the ground. "It was my fault; I said something I shouldn’t have."
"Oh."
When the boy didn’t elaborate further, Sakura figured she should just drop the sensitive subject. Sarada, meanwhile, had suddenly stopped and was staring at an empty lot, causing Sakura to also turn and observe the uninteresting, empty patch of land.
"What’s wrong? Does this place feel familiar to you?"
"Yeah."
She’s here, standing right in front of her home, small and cozy and warm but doesn't exist yet. How was she to explain that to her future mother?
"That must mean we’re getting close! Your house must be around here somewhere!" Sakura beamed, looking around excitedly, then she suddenly froze and glanced over at Sarada when she didn't receive any reaction. "Um, that is if you are ready to go home."
Sarada shook her head again, and Sakura suddenly felt like she was dealing with her taciturn, dark-haired teammate. Sarada, however, started to continue walking, and Sakura had to run after the boy to catch up to him.
After walking for another few minutes, Sarada spotted a rather familiar figure that she had seen in the photos on top of their table.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed, waving her hand and running toward the boy, who, Sadara swore, tensed up when he recognized the voice that called his name.
Hesitantly, Sarada followed Sakura, even more unsure now of how to approach this situation. She quickly scanned Sasuke, who was wearing a pair of white shorts and a blue, high-collared shirt.
So, this person is... dad.
"Sakura," Sasuke greeted, his voice having a hint of embarrassment, but Sarada wasn't sure if it was because his teammate had been too loud earlier or if it was due to something else. Either way, Sakura seemed completely oblivious to it.
Sasuke let out a defeated sigh when Sakura didn't even seem bothered by the slight disapproval in his voice. His eyes immediately darted over to the stranger coming up behind his teammate, and his brow furrowed as he took in the newcomer. He recognized the unmistakable dark hair and dark eyes that every one of his clan members possessed, yet he had never seen this person before.
Is he from another village?
"Who is this?"
Sakura laughed nervously to try and dispel the tense atmosphere, unsure of why the mood had suddenly turned so sour so quickly. Her gaze bounced back and forth between her teammate and her new friend as they glared at each other.
"This is…er…" Sakura attempted to introduce the boy, but she stopped short when she realized she didn’t know the kid’s name either.
"I’m Sa...tori," Sarada responded, deciding that it will be easier to hide her identity if they don’t know her name to begin with.
"Oh, Satori! Right! This is Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun, Satori," Sakura introduced. "We met just earlier; I was helping him find his house."
Wait, 'his' house?
"Him?" Sasuke scanned Satori when he seemed to have picked up on the questionable information in that sentence, but Sarada decided to play along to conceal her true identity. She could also tell Sasuke was searching his mind for anyone named Satori but came up empty, so instead he just leered suspiciously at her.
"Yeah, he’s gotten a bit lost, so we’re just walking around this neighborhood until we find his house."
When Sarada nodded and Sasuke didn’t say anything, the uncomfortable silence settled back around them, so Sakura took it upon herself to lighten the mood again. "Anyway, where are you heading to, Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke finally peeled his wary gaze off of Sarada just long enough to respond to his teammate's question. "The training ground."
"Oh!" Sakura exclaimed excitedly, turning to Sarada. "Since you don’t want to go home yet, do you want to come watch?"
Realizing she hadn’t even asked for permission yet, Sakura turned to her teammate and added, "If that’s ok with you, Sasuke-kun."
"Hn," Sasuke huffed and shrugged. It doesn’t matter to him either way, but his mind is more at ease knowing at least his teammate is not hanging alone with this stranger.
Beaming, Sarada waved for Sarada to come with them, who let out a defeated sigh. She had really talked herself into a corner and didn’t really have another excuse to say no.
